Police Clearance

When an applicant applies to become a permanent resident, a police certificate needs to be included at the appropriate stage.

A police certificate is a statement that you do not have a criminal record. Police certificates are different in each country and territory. They may be called:

police certificates,

good conduct certificates,

judicial record extracts

Who needs a police certificate?

In general, all people who are 18 or older need to get a police certificate. Candidates may need a police certificate from any country or territory that they have spent six months or more since the age of 18.

If a candidate needs a police certificate from a country or territory and:

is currently living there, the police certificate must be issued within six months before the application

has lived there in the past, the police certificate must be issued after the candidate last lived in that country or territory

If the certificate is in a language other than English or French, the police certificate must be sent along with a translation done by a certified translator.

Process

In most cases, the candidate must contact the police or government to ask for a certificate. The candidate may have to: